Time-Modulated Arrays for Radar Direction-Finding with Reconfigurable Angular Range and Accuracy

A radar direction-finding technique based on time-modulated arrays (TMAs) is proposed in this paper. The carrier frequency of signals radiated/received by TMAs with phase center motion suffers from the Doppler effect and the frequency shifting is direction-dependent. This interesting property of TMAs can be used for direction-finding. A radar direction-finding system using TMA is designed in this paper. Performance of the novel bearing technique is deeply discussed and compared with conventional direction-finding techniques. Both numerical and experimental results demonstrate that this technique is effective and provides reconfigurable angle-searching range and bearing accuracy. The flexibility allows the proposed direction-finding technique to be qualified for different detection requirements just by changing time schemes of TMAs.